Saudi Aramco’s trading arm, Aramco Trading Company (ATC), signed a deal with Egypt’s SUMED to provide 222,000 cubic metres of gas oil storage capacity in Sidi Kerir for re-export to Europe, Egypt’s petroleum ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The companies also signed a second deal to supply fuel oil storage capacity of 165,000 cubic metres in the Red Sea port of Ain Sokhna, the statement said.

That deal may include re-exporting and supplying fuel oil to power plants in Saudi Arabia, meeting the needs of the Egyptian market and providing fuel to ships in the region, according to the statement.

SUMED is 50 per cent owned by the Egyptian government and the rest is held by Arab oil exporters in the Gulf.